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Friday, June 20, 2008

2008 First Round

OK we will sim$ply post the picks with a few comments and just refresh it as the round moves on so the most recent pick will be at the top all the way to 30.

30- Detroit: Thomas McCollum is the Red Wings goalie of the future and this is a good safe pick to end the first round. McCollum actually is American born so this is also Team USA's goalie of the future. Big strong and extremely smart this is a goalie who will keep the Red Wings at the Top of the NHL in the days ahead.

29- Atlanta: Daultan Leveille has to be the ?????? of the draft as we know nothing at all about him as we never even looked at the OHA-B league.

28- Phoenix: Victor Tikonov no offense but if Grandfather namesake was still a part of the game then great pick. In other words the Coyotes went from having a smartly run draft to a head scratcher in one pick.

27- Washington: John Carlson is going to be punishing Ranger players for a long time, the prospect we wanted is a clone of Scott Stevens only with more offense and more mean.

26- Buffalo: Tyler Ennis was the top of our all heart team and we are happy for the kid to see him get picked in the first round. Ennis if surrounded with some size will be a very productive center.

25- Calgary: Greg Nemisz was one of those we wanted the Rangers to take. A huge 6'3 and still growing power forward who needs work on his skating. Nemisz earned our respect by stepping up his game after the death of Mickey Renaud.

24- New Jersey: Mattias Tedneby is a talented player but is better suited for the European style game. A 5'9 defender is going to have trouble adapting.

23- Minnesota: Tyler Cuma is an interesting pick as the one way offensive defender is heading to the trapping Wild. Cuma will believe will adapt and adjust as the book on him is that he takes criticism and

22- Edmonton: Jordan Eberle if he ever dedicates himself will be a talented scorer as he is a great puck handler and scorer. The question of his consistency is why he dropped so far.

21- Washington: Anton Gustafsson was a player we really liked because of his size and work ethic. The question will be his health as he does have back issues.

20-RANGERS: Sorry but in a draft where the Rangers needs were defensive defender and power forward then the Ranger's selection of Michael Del Zotto is suspect. Defensively Del Zotto is very weak as he thinks offense too much.

The "experts" have mixed views of him other than his offensive skills. Questions about his maturity, about his decision making process and discipline. A tad on the smallish size at barely 6 feet.

19- Philadelphia: Luca Sbisa is a Swiss kid who adjusted well to the North American game. Has size and skill but still needs a lot of polish. He will fit in well

18- Nashville: Chet Pickard is a good goalie prospect but in our eyes not the best one in this year's draft. We watched him in the WHL finals as we felt he got outplayed by the eventual Memorial Cup MVP Dustin Tokarski)

17- Anaheim: Jake Gardiner is another reach pick but the Ducks can afford to let him spend time in college growing into his body and develop his defensive game. Only 2 years as a defender so he does have a lot of work on the defensive side of the game. On offensive he is a major talent to where we would consider moving him back to forward

16- Boston: Joe Colborne is a project pick but worth the risk as he is huge and despite what people may say about his background is a hungry player.

15- Ottawa: Erik Carlsson is a pick who needs 3-4 years of development before he will become NHL ready. A small player who will need a shotgun partner on the blueline

14- Carolina: Zac Boychuk is the smurf of the draft and to be honest this is a bad pick simply because the Canes needed defenders

13- Los Angeles: Colton Teubert, a good shut down defender but he reminds me more of Darius Kaspararitis as someone who will go more for the big hit than the good smart play.

12- Sabres: Tyler Myers is going to become a scary good player IF his body can catch up to his heart. Too nice at times maybe because of his teammate Luke Schenn was the bad guy so Myers had to stay on the ice.

11- Chicago: Kyle Beach is a player who can score like Shanny, annoy like Avery and be misunderstood like many others. He is a kid who yes made a few bad choices but

10- Vancouver: Cody Hodgson is a professor of the game, he plays like it is a chess match as he is one of the smartest prospects we have seen in taking apart a game. We watched him with Sanguinetti and the Canucks got a good one.

9- NY Islanders: Josh Bailey is a good kid but a huge reach here as he was at best middle of the first round closer to the Rangers.

8- Phoenix: Taking Mikkel Boedker is a good pick as they get a hard nosed player who loves the big games. This is not your typical European as he loves contact

7- Nashville: Cory Wilson is the best power forward prospect who we introduced you to in December. Wilson is going to become the focus of the US National Team over the next decade

6- Columbus: This one is a surprise as the BJs needed help on defense. Filiatov is a great prospect but he is smallish and with the BJs badly needing to make the playoffs they need blueline help.

5- Toronto: Giving up what they did to move up 2 places is crazy but understandable because had they not grabbed Luke Schenn the Bluejackets would have. This is what we call a Beuk clone with his physical game

4- St Louis: Alex Pietrangelo is a great pick as he has some offensive skills to go along with a physically strong game. He does need a nasty side but he comes with a good work ethic

3- Atlanta: Talentwise Nikita Filatov is the best one here and Waddell has to sooth the feelings of his star Kovalchuk but the Zach Bogosian is not a bad second choice. In our eyes in 5 years when they review this draft a healthy Bogosian will be the best player to come out of this draft. Bogosian is a great 2 way defenseman.

2- Los Angeles: Zach Bogosian is who I would have taken as while Drew Doughty is a good player but he is not as good defensively. The Kings needed someone to play defense. Doughty is a good offensive player but his work habits are a serious concern given his recent weight loss.

1- Tampa Bay: Steve Stamkos is their pick but to be honest on talent alone we actually think overall the most talented player is Zach Bogosian. Tampa goes offense when in our eyes Bogosian would have been the as we view him as the best overall player. Stamkos is a good prospect but the Bolts should have taken a defender like Bogosian who would have done more to improve their franchise.